Friday, May 27, 2016

NOT TONIGHT SATAN - BIANCA DEL RIO

Judging by the crowd which packed the Playhouse Theatre for
Bianca Del Rio’s single Canberra performance, the television show, “RuPaul’s
Drag Race” has a lot of viewers in Canberra.

Bianca Del Rio was the winner of season 6 of “RuPaul’s Drag
Race” and describes herself as a “Clown in a gown”.

The alter ego of seasoned
comic, Roy Haylock, a well-known costume designer, Bianca Del Rio is described
as an “insult comic”, and is known for her foul mouth and unapologetic humour. She
was described in the New York Times as “The Joan Rivers of Drag”.

Bianca Del Rio in Canberra

She certainly lived up to her reputation during her single
Canberra performance, and the packed house loved her for it. A model of inclusiveness,
she managed to insult, gays, straights, lesbians, the disabled, RuPaul, Courtney Act,
her fans and anyone else who crossed her mind. Hilariously hateful, her barbs
were so sharp that her victims hardly had time to feel the sting before she
zipped on to her next topic. In any case, as she quickly pointed out, she’s the
biggest joke of all.

But don’t underestimate Del Rio because behind the potty
mouth is a very accomplished stand-up. For the full hour she was on stage her
act never flagged for a second. The final section in which she answers
questions submitted by the audience was a masterful demonstration of her skill
at the quick come-back, so that even her frequent heart-felt references to Cranberry,
instead of Canberra, had her audience in stitches.

In addition, her outrageous costume, wig and make-up were
all works of art in themselves, so it was a pity that the act did not allow for
a costume change.

Though this was her first visit to Canberra, one feels that
it will not be the last we see of Bianca Del Rio, as she hinted during her show
that the success of her whirl-wind Australian tour, may herald an invasion of
refugees from “RuPaul’s Drag Race”.

About Me

The 26 year-old Canberra Critics’ Circle is the only such group of critics in Australia that runs across all the major art forms, not just performing arts.
The circle changes each year depending on who is writing or broadcasting on the arts in Canberra.
Our aim is to provide a focal point for Canberra reviewers in print and electronic media through discussions and forums. As well, we make awards to ACT region artists (defined as within 100km radius of Canberra) in the latter part of each year.
The CCC has always resisted making awards in “best-of” categories. Arts practice is not a competitive race and Canberra is a small pool where it would be ridiculous to pre-impose categories, apart from major art form genres. The idea is that we, the critics, single out qualities we have noticed -- things which have struck us as important. These could be expressed as abstracts, like impact, originality, creativity, craftsmanship and excellence.
Our year is from September 30 2016 to September 30 2017.
Convener of the Circle is Helen Musa.